A Cut Above the Rest
by Luster Tolasi
Summary: So, I died. While unfortunate, the life I had led left me with a bunch of good karma and I could spend it any way I wanted. Well then - Pokemon world here I come! Everyone will come to find that when I'm given another chance at life as a gallade, I would stop at nothing to make myself a cut above the rest.
1. Chapter 1

**[Hello. We want to give an unfortunate welcome to the Afterlife Processing Terminal. We have chosen a form of display most suited for your understanding as to your future options.]**

**[It is our regret to inform you that you have passed away. Your cause of death was an Acute Myocardial Infarction and the stipulation from Karma to pass silently in your sleep has been redeemed.]**

**[Calculating accrued Karma from your previous life…]**

I suppose if I had a body at the moment, realization that I died would've sent me into one of many emotions. As it was, I felt a sort of mute detachment that probably came with the lack of hormones affecting my mind or soul or whatever. Heart attack in my sleep, though? I suppose there were worse ways to go.

**[Take note: Karma accrued is added to your Soul's total and is a measure of which options you have available to you in your next Life. Spendable Karma is individual to each trip to the Afterlife, however, and it is wise to spend as much as possible from your previous Life's earnings.]**

**[You are not timed in your choices. If you have any questions, ask them aloud. We hope you look forward to your next Life.]**

I knew my way around character sheets but never one as important as my own life. The interface that had overtaken my vision was much like a forum with drop-down lists. Anything I would've ever considered for an ideal life was displayed along with the cost in Karma. (Why it needed to be capitalized I didn't know.)

I immediately started browsing options I had in mind, just to see how much it would cost. To my surprise, either I was considered a saint in life or what I'd gone through had been enough to earn me a better 'next shot' so to speak. The amount of Karma I had compared to most of the options I was seeing was dumbfounding, but maybe there were more expensive options at the end outside of general life choices.

My first available selection was the choice of world and without a doubt I looked at Pokemon for an option.

**[The world of Pokemon has been selected. Please select the type of body wanted.]**

Oh, that hadn't even crossed my mind. Well, that choice was easy when stated that way. I selected pokemon for the type of body and the full list became available with the pricing of any given species. A question came to mind.

"Why is it that fully evolved pokemon are available for an option? Is that to make sure you end up as that or do you start as that stage somehow?"

**[Both options are available for purchase. Starting as an evolved pokemon has a tendency to be paired with the Amnesiac trait to balance the Karma requirements as well as answer how the previous stages were surpassed.]**

I could see the merit in the pairing. Adding a hardship accrued addition Karma for the next life and also made current purchases a little cheaper. What I went through was a sign of wanting the payoff in my current situation.

Legends were way out of my price range, so, in my impatience and knowledge that childhood could be a pain, I decided to go with my regular favorite as an immediate choice - Gallade. Amnesiac brought the price down considerably and was the least painful of the options provided, so I paired them and continued on with my choices.

It continued with regional choices. I picked a random starting location in Hoenn. It was the first region I played as a kid and I had a particular fondness for it. Random was much cheaper than getting picky and I had no preference.

Honestly, I felt better leaving a bunch of options to chance. A sound body and mind was fair enough to guarantee but when it came to familial bonds or aspirations and dreams, I wanted to say I followed my heart, or Soul in this case.

Unfortunately, this hands-off approach left me with a sizable amount of Karma remaining. Unable to contain my curiosity, I gave a look to the section of premium options and that's where all that excess Karma could be spent it seemed.

**[Warning: The following options can and will decide in a major capacity certain aspects of your new life and should be taken with care and consideration.]**

Well, that wasn't ominous at all, but I browsed the list anyway. I passed by Divine Intervention, Personal Vendetta, and Soulmates to come across the one option I didn't know I needed until I saw it. I could choose to keep my memories and I had the Karma available to purchase it.

**[Memory Retention: With this option, you take all of the Boons and Hardships of your past Life and retain them in your following Life. This will affect your Karma in the same manner as before.]**

**[You will explicitly remember anything that was stored to your Memory and this Afterlife Processing. This will affect the way you act and may set you apart from others. This will likely cause an Existential Crisis at some point in your new Life without the Karma benefits normally funded. This option can only be selected once every other Life to prevent recursion.]**

I had to ask. "So, this means I'll wake up as a Gallade with no knowledge of my life up to that point but I'll retain my human mind?"

**[Yes, with the inclusion of Gallade instinct. Isolation of your new Life from your previous Life is overwritten by the selection of Memory Retention.]**

I was sold. Dumping the majority of my remaining Karma into that single choice and rounding off some of my personal abilities with what remained, I accepted my choice, come what may.


	2. Chapter 2

Turns out 'come what may' sucked. The very first thing I became aware of after signing up for this new life was a splitting headache seemingly wedging my mind in two. The second thing, once I could focus enough to notice anything else, was that I was in a hospital bed judging by the feel against my skin. It was a guess given that I had the bulk of my arm resting over my eyes for relief, and man, it felt heavy likely owing to the bladelike nature.

Whether by my waking or through coincidence, a nurse came into the room a minute after I came to. The female voice thankfully didn't make my head feel any worse.

"Here, let me dim the lights down for you. We didn't expect you to wake up so soon."

The brightness of the room became almost tolerable after the nurse closed up the blinds for the room's windows. And then I had to open my big mouth. "Thank you."

I lowered my arm off of my eyes and blinked into focus to see the nurse staring at me wide-eyed and her chansey which I hadn't heard looking on in an open-mouthed gasp. I facepalmed and immediately regretted that too as I winced from the sharp pain of jostling my head. Two minutes was all it'd taken to fail at being a pokemon.

"Chansey, could you bump up our patient two tiers and get the door on the way out?"

When the chansey responded, I heard the faint echo of translation overlay on her voice. "_Right away! / _(Chansey!)"

The nurse and I had a stare-off as the chansey proceeded to exit the room and close the door behind her. She broke the silence. "That wasn't telepathy."

I winced and regrettably answered. "No…?"

She set the clipboard she was carrying down on the table across from my bed and took a second to rub her forehead. "Julie, what did you get yourself into this time?"

The question was obviously not meant for me so I waited for her readdress a couple seconds after. "Were you a previous capture? You're on register as wild and that was strange enough but you're talking on top of that."

When all else fails, use half-truths. "I only know what's happened since I woke up and that my head is killing me. Your guess is as good as mine and I'll worry about my lost past when I can blink without pain."

She was silent for the shortest while but moved over to a nearby tray to grab a small cup of pills and a cup of water. "Think you're okay to swallow? We can go intravenous if not."

I was all up for not being stabbed with a needle. Could never watch those things go in without going faint. "I should be. Thank you."

I took the cup of pills and almost tossed them back like I was human before I remembered, 'Hey, gallade, make sure they make it in your mouth.', and used the chance to get accustomed to my new body. I pushed myself up sitting on the bed then took the cup of water and got the pills down without too much trouble. The angling of everything felt a little different given the new body proportions but there was still a part of it that felt natural. Instincts went a long way.

The water felt great to drink. "Thanks."

Julie took the cups from me and set them aside. "I need to go grab Joy so she can give you the proper overview on your condition as well as to inform her about your voice. I'm guessing you'd rather keep it a secret?"

I gave a half-smile. "If it's at all possible. I should be able to find my other voices soon enough. I think this headache is throwing me off."

She smiled back. "Then we're both a little thrown off. You had a severe concussion and with the amnesia, please stay in bed for now. Another fall could severely hinder your recovery, okay?"

I certainly had no intention of going anywhere yet. "Okay. Thank you."

She gave me a nod and left the room, closing the door behind her. I used this chance to use the dim light for a chance at looking myself over. It was one thing seeing pictures or media. It was quite another to live in a once-fictitious being's body.

It hadn't struck me quite yet when I saw the chansey but now that I was alone to my musings, I couldn't get over how real everything was. I had my hands in front of my face, three fingers adorning each. My arms extended both directions, my elbows currently encased in some sort of plastic sheath, probably so I didn't tear up the bed by accident or was a danger to anyone if I thrashed. In fact, I found the strangest thing not the chest or back spike that had been digging a little awkwardly into the bed, but the fact that my hips were more like a disc. Hips for days… oh, the things my brother would've said. Let's not open that can of worms for now though. Keep it together.

I was brought out of my momentary melancholy by the sound of the door opening. Nurse Joy, just like the shows and games, entered the room and was accompanied by a blissey. The first thing she said was like going down a list. "Fully-evolved, wild, physical and mental hazard, positive disposition, agreeable to treatment. You're quite the interesting case, I must admit. Hi, I'm Falicia and I'm the Head Nurse here at the Petalburg Central Pokemon Center."

The blissey then chimed in from its position beside my bed checking over the vitals. "_And I'm Daisy! Hi hi!"_

Falicia continued. "Can you tell us how you're feeling or any concerns you have? I know from Julie that you have memory loss and a headache."

Now that I thought about it… "Say what you will about hospital food but your drugs are top notch. Head pain is much better, thank you."

Another moment of silence passed but was broken by Daisy. "_That's so cool!"_

Falicia recovered much faster than Julie did and began to look over my charts. "I have to agree. I've met a handful of Speakers in all of my years doctoring and to have human sayings down as well? You're certainly the best of them. I need to check a couple of things and then we can talk about your condition and where we go from here, okay?"

I nodded as she walked over to the side of my bed and pulled out a small light. "Look straight ahead for me please."

That head pain? Still there if you threw light on the fire. I did my best to let her check my eyes.

"Alright, your eyes are back to dilating normally. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three."

"And no blurriness or double vision?"

"None."

Falicia made a note of it and sighed. "That gives us some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it doesn't look like you need any further recovery for your head injury outside of some rest while your body readjusts. The bad news comes from what we had to do to keep you alive. You were placed in stasis as soon as it was possible to do so. This allowed us to keep you alive and you're free to be released from the temporary ball once we make sure you're clear from anything debilitating. The unfortunate side effect of this, particularly with head trauma, is that the defaulting can cause memory loss of varying degrees."

She returned over to the chart. "Thankfully, all of your cuts and bruises were superficial which was greatly surprising given the distance you seem to have fallen. The most worrying thing was the two days you spent unresponsive. Given your current condition though, the only thing we would have to keep you here for is about a day or two of monitoring and then you'd be free to return to Route 102. The scenery might jog some memories."

I didn't want to break it to her that I wasn't getting memories of something I didn't experience. What did I want to do with this life though? Being wild wasn't on the list but being captured had to have a right fit especially considering how I did with authority. I didn't know much about this world outside of the game knowledge I had and what I had seen since I woke up told me that I needed a lot more information than that.

"Not for nothing, doc, but maybe it's best if I don't end up remembering anything to find a way to move forward. Is there a way I could be placed with people or a trainer or something? I don't know how much of a battler I am but I know for sure I'd make a poor wild wanderer."

Daisy chimed in. "_You're very strong. I can feel it!"_

Falicia looked pensive then nodded. "If you're sure about it, I can search the Trainers Database to find potential matches. You wouldn't likely be able to be given to civilians given your status, so you're most likely to be placed on a higher Badge team that can handle properly training your abilities. It's a very mature way of looking at things but please, I hope you don't avoid how you feel about this situation. We have a psychic dampener on you already from the head trauma. You can let loose without hurting anyone."

I sighed and laid back on the bed. "I'm sure I will when this all sinks in, Falicia. Why am I so tired though? You said I was out for two days?"

She nodded. "You've been recovering from a serious injury instead of truly sleeping. It's reasonable to say you could use all the sleep you can get. Would you like me to get the lights for you?"

Giving a yawn, I answered. "Yes, please. Thanks for everything, Falicia."

She gave a smile and the pair made to exit the room. "It's more than my job, Gallade. It's my wish to see everyone healthy and happy. If you ever need anything, I'm a button press away."

Daisy was the last to exit and finished with a quiet, _"Sleep well!"_

I was left in the dark to embrace my dreams - the ones I now lived, the ones I left behind, and the ones I had yet to achieve.


	3. Chapter 3

_~You know how kids get asked what they want to be when they grow up? I'd always give some random answer to complete the assignment or whatever came to mind to placate the one to ask me. I never really knew what I wanted outside of fantasy and things I couldn't become. I was known to have my head in the clouds._

_I always dreamed of being a pokemon trainer. I wished for a group of super powerful friends where we were a family that could take on anything the world threw at us. We'd get badge after badge and I'd always be there to support the ones that brought us so far. I'd always be there for the family that looked out for one another. That's how family was supposed to be._

_My brother understood. We'd stay awake at night after everyone had gone to bed for the night and talk and talk over things we wanted. We'd talk over where we wanted to go and who we wanted to be. We'd talk about our world and all the things we wanted to change. Out of it all though, we knew one thing for sure. We'd make it a better place than the one we lived in._

_When I finally did grow up and looked around at what was, it was not as I had dreamed. My family laid in pieces that no longer fit together. My hopes of fantasy were dashed by the harshness of reality. I wasn't changing the world. I wasn't even changing _my _world._

_It wasn't that I hadn't tried to fix things. It was more that my heart hurt too much to fully invest into repairing the breaks. There were only so many fragments that things could be broken into before you lost all sense of what the thing originally was. So when another piece would chip or another page would tear, I'd be left by myself at night without another to talk over things we wanted. No one to talk about where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be. Out of it all though, I knew one thing for sure. There was a better place than the one I lived in._

_And then, it didn't matter what I wanted of my life because I died, my heart giving out in my sleep. I was left to pick where my piece would end up without the rest of the ones that made up the original thing. I placed my piece where I wished and dreamed where it could've been. Was that selfish of me? Maybe. Out of it all though, I knew one thing for sure. I'd make this a better place than the one I'd lived in. I still dared to dream.~_

When I woke up with tears in my eyes that night, I wasn't ashamed. I'd never be ashamed of being a dreamer. When I grew into being a gallade, I'd be a powerful friend for a family that could take on anything the world threw at us. I'd always be there for the family that looked out for one another.

After all, that's how family was supposed to be.


	4. Chapter 4

I was hoping I'd be forgiven for getting out of bed but when I dreamt like that the only thing that would help was a glass of water. Something. Anything. I barely felt the water go down my throat as the running sink crashed water into the bin like static to my ears.

Josh, you dumbass, did you really try acting like losing your life and being dropped into an alien body was no big deal? You were three semesters into your degree. You finally started to patch up old wounds with your estranged family. You were a son, a friend, a brother, an uncle… Look at you now. What do you have left?

A gentle knocking on the doorframe drew me from my thoughts. At some point my mind had retreated away from my body and I had left the sink on for who knows how long. I turned it off and saw Falicia, just Falicia, in the doorway.

"Mind if I come in?"

I nodded at the hesitant voice, even though I couldn't meet her eyes with my own after being found like I was. I motioned to the bed as I walked over to it myself, the awkwardness of this new form barely registering as I took a seat on its edge and rested my head in my hands.

I heard the gentle clack of her shoes and felt the air shift with my head crest as she made her way slowly over. "I'm breaking protocol by not having Daisy with me. Do I have your word you won't harm me?"

That drew me from my slump and I looked her in the eyes. At least that was something I still had left - my word. "You have my word, Falicia."

That brought a gentle smile to her face and she took a seat beside me. Given the lack of light in the room, she took to looking directly ahead though I knew for sure her attention was on me. She hitched on her words for a second before her next thought fully came out. "You're very human, you know?"

Oh, I knew... I wanted to see where her thoughts were going though. She pressed on when she knew she had my attention. "You didn't even ask what I meant when I asked for your word. You understand concepts most pokemon never will and I can tell that in what little we've spoken. It's why I'm so hesitant to treat you as your species' name. You're more than that."

The silence after that statement lingered almost long enough for me to break it but Falicia found her courage again and continued. "But that's also why I'm so worried about you. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to be available when you woke. Because if there's one thing I need to do before I leave this room, it's to let you know…"

The tiniest increase in her inhalation caught her words for a second, and she finished by looking at me. "You're not alone."

The dam that was holding my emotions back damaged just a crack. The tears fell freely in the silence of the dark, one after another, as my dreams rushed through my mind. But before I truly descended into the freefall, I felt a hand rest on top of mine and I turned my blurry eyes to Falicia Joy, someone who was much too real to be fictitious.

With a gentle hold, she reinforced her words. "I'm not going to ask what led you to run from your past or why you don't seek to go back. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're healthy and whole, inside and out. All I want you to do is to ask yourself what you really want and I'll do what I can to help you get there. Okay?"

I didn't trust my voice under the weight of her belief, so it was all I could do to nod and hope she understood how much I appreciated what she was doing for me.

We sat there in the dark for an unknown number of minutes as I began to dare to dream again. It was from within one of my random thoughts that she pulled me out with a question.

"Hungry?"

The sudden change in conversation threw me for a second but it didn't take long to find my answer. I gave a half-hearted grin and hoped I got everything I needed to across with my answer. "Like I haven't eaten in days."

I was by no means fine with my situation yet. Hearing Falicia laugh at my dumb joke made things a little more tolerable though. She stood up off of the bed to get towards the side table and handed me a tissue. In wordless thanks, I wiped up what remained of my previous sorrow and tossed the mess into the wastebasket.


	5. Chapter 5

Now that I was relatively calm, I slowly rose from the bed and took in how it felt to use these new legs of mine. There was a surety in my movements that I didn't have as a human, like I'd always been the slightest bit uncoordinated before. I got used to my arms in the guise of a stretch and made sure of my balance when I arched my back. Content that every piece was working as intended, I followed Falicia out of the room.

The very first thing I noticed was that I was shorter. I had always been slightly tall throughout my life as a human and now in order to meet Falicia's eyes I was looking upwards, literally more than metaphorically. I couldn't remember how tall gallade were supposed to be and hadn't received a comment on my stature thus far, so I had to assume I was of a normal height. It was unfortunate I probably needed help to reach the top shelf at a market now. I thought those days were behind me.

We would've made quite the pair to see walking down the halls if everyone wasn't currently in their rooms with the doors closed and the lights off sleeping. We passed by a clock and I made sure to see what unholy time I'd crawled out of bed and kept Falicia up until. It confused me for a second how sharp my vision was before I shook my head back into the moment and took in the sight of 3:30 in the morning.

"Falicia!" I whisper-yelled, not wanting to wake anyone in their rooms up, "You didn't tell me I kept you up until three in the morning!"

She placed a hand on my shoulder as we walked. "I kept myself awake. You were in bed recovering. There's no connection between the two. Now then, don't worry your head, we're an elevator ride down to the cafeteria floor away from breakfast! Don't go telling it around but I swear we have the best bakery in the town here in the mornings. Can't go wrong with the tarts!"

Leave it to a Joy to pull someone out of feeling down. The elevator ride wouldn't have been interesting if it weren't for the fact it was reflective on the inside. I froze for a moment as I saw the gallade I was. Joy bumped into me by accident as I stopped.

"Oh, sorry! Is everything all right?"

I finished entering the elevator and took to looking myself over on the side. "Sorry, it was like seeing myself for the first time…"

I was so cool looking! If it weren't for Falicia being in the elevator with me, I might've tried striking some poses. I could see her covering her laugh in the reflection but I couldn't bring myself to be embarrassed. There had been regrets in my last life and its loss would continue to affect me. When it came to choosing to be a gallade, though?

No regrets.

My personal overview didn't last long as it was a short elevator ride. Upon exiting I came to realize that the entire floor was dedicated to food. Surprisingly, there were a few people sitting at tables or booths even this early in the morning.

Falicia was kind enough to let me take in the sights as we walked. "You're welcome to anything you're interested in. I'm going to grab a tart for when I wake up and head to my room for the night. You're not discharged yet, so please stick to wandering close to your room. You can either order room service or if you're up for the walk and socializing, come here at any time. Go ahead and give things a look!"

With that, she walked up to a counter of baked goods and left me to my devices. Well, there was no time like the present to get used to being independent in this world. Signs were posted regularly that let pokemon know their meals were free, so I grabbed a tray from a nearby stack and made my first step the drink counter.

It looked like coffee was a bust but it was probably for the better. The last thing I needed was a caffeine addiction in this body, too. I had to call on older knowledge of berries to know what flavors to expect and decided I didn't want to gamble and poured myself a glass of Oran. When all else fails, pick every flavor. I poured a glass of water while I was at it in case I wanted something unsweet.

Looking around, it seemed Falicia had left for the night. Knowing what foods were offered at the counter she approached though, I made that my food stop. I was a sucker for baked goods. And what choices they had! I was never as glad at the world similarities than right now. Hoping I didn't stand out for doing so, I took a sniff at a cheri tart and likened it to cherries and cinnamon. I figured I'd give it a try.

Now then, the question was whether or not I decided to be social with any of the few people around at this time of day. I only spoke as a human at the moment and thinking about speaking gallade drew a blank. Telepathy was going to take a bit of instinct and a bit of training. Thinking about it for a moment, chances are I wouldn't be able to keep the secret long and playing the mute would get old fast.

Looking around for a potential seat, I saw a pair of what looked to be trainers, one male and one female, in their teens and between them sat a munchlax. Their facial expressions were down, almost desperate. I cursed my empathy but knew I couldn't let sleeping dogs lie. I made my way over to them and approaching their booth drew their attention.


	6. Chapter 6

The trio of two humans and a munchlax looked towards me as I stood in front of their table. We had a stalemate for a couple seconds but the girl finally spoke up and I found my opening. "Uh… yes? Can we help you?"

I lifted my tray slightly and motioned my head down to the table.

The guy took the hint. "Oh, you want to sit with us? I'm afraid we're not the best company at the moment."

Now or never... I spoke up. "What's the matter?"

The third set of reactions to me speaking really hammered home how much I stood out with my knowledge. Shock overtook the humans' faces.

The silence was going to get awkward if it continued much longer so I pulled up a chair from a nearby table to sit at the end of their booth. I took a bite of my tart and looked up to see them whispering to each other and pointing at me. The munchlax looked up to meet my eyes then looked back down, a seeming cloud of sadness emanating from them. Actually, was that what it was? I'd have to get used to whatever empathic senses I now had.

I pointed my fork at them as I finished chewing the bite. "I have ears, too, you know."

They broke from their whispering session and the girl blushed. "Sorry… we had to be sure we weren't hearing things. That's really cool, though! How long did it take you to learn?"

Well, I wouldn't lie but they wouldn't understand the truth behind my answer. "Oh, about a year of regular use. I didn't think it was strange though, so I'm still getting used to people reacting. I felt like you three might need someone to talk to."

The guy gave a half-smile at that. "Leave it to the psychic… We're trying to figure out why Munchlax is refusing to eat. It's starting to affect his health and we don't know what to do."

Almost too quiet to hear, the munchlax responded. "_They wouldn't understand."_

The pair looked down to the pokemon then back at me. I held up a finger to stop them from asking and looked over my tray down at the despondent pokemon. "I might, though. I'm willing to listen."

The munchlax looked up at me with glances to his sides and hesitantly responded. "_Could… could we talk at another table?"_

I looked back to the pair to see them match my eyes in question. "Would you mind if we talked a few booths down? I understand if you wouldn't trust a stranger."

The girl was the first to answer. "No, no, by all means! Here, let me move out of the way for you, Munchie."

With the girl now standing next to me, the munchlax was able to scoot their way out and onto the floor proper and I stood to begin to lead him off to the side. We walked a few booths away and while I wondered what spurred me to be a therapist, I hoped I could help myself find some peace through helping others. I could also somehow tell through his voice that he was relatively young, and that only made me want to help more.

I had him sit on the edge of the booth seat and myself pull up a chair from a nearby table so I could both properly see him and be close enough for secrecy. I didn't want the table to block any of his words. I no sooner became comfortable that the first words spilled from his mouth.

"_I'm sorry… I'm keeping you from your food…"_

My lips rose into a soft smile. So that was the angle of the issue?

"I'm choosing to help a new friend how I can. I'm keeping myself from my food. It'll still be there when we go back."

At that, I chose to give a gasp. "Unless… you don't think they'd take my tart, do you? I swear, I might have pillows on my elbows, but I will so arm wrestle them for it. Mark my words!"

I was smiling like an idiot by the end of it and thankfully, so was the child - munchlax in form - sitting across from me. I counted getting a chuckle instead of the sadness as a small victory. We met eyes with our fading smiles but it seemed like I broke the discomfort just enough to get him to start talking with me.

"_Are you sick…?"_

I gave a light shrug. "Depends on what you consider my condition. Turns out I fell out in the wilds and I hit my head so hard I forgot who I was. Amnesia is the name for it. I'm in here to make sure I heal properly, even if I don't get my memories back."

He looked sad at that. "_You might not remember anything?"_

I shook my head. "Very small chance that I will, but you know what? That just means I have to make new memories - happy ones. Helping a new friend however I can would be a very happy memory."

I hunched down to meet the eyes of the munchlax looking back at me. "Would you tell me why you won't eat? If you don't want anyone else to know, I won't tell, but I'm worried…"

I let the silence lapse off as incentive and thankfully, it seemed like I had broken the ice between us enough to receive an answer. The words started slow to start.

"_I lost us our last battle… I couldn't get out of the way fast enough… If I didn't eat so much, I'd be faster…"_

That was a confusing statement. "Who told you that?"

I thought they might not continue, but they muscled on after a moment. "_Flutter did. I let them down. They told me so."_

So what I was hearing was that a flier on one of their teams guilted a child into malnutrition. What kind of munchlax would be built to dodge, anyway? I thought of an angle of approach and gave it a try.

"Do you know why you're not as fast as a flying-type?"

They shook their head.

"Because, your species has strength and durability over speed. Munchlax and snorlax are meant to take the hits and plow through them. They're strong."

I pointed to their chest. "You're strong. You can't keep that strength without eating properly, though. As long as you're regularly training, you're not putting on fat, you're shaping muscle. You won't be able to grow if you starve yourself."

I rested my elbows on my legs and leaned forward just a bit more. "Do you trust your trainer?"

That drew a response of both surprise and anger. "_Of course I do!"_

I finished with a nod. "Then trust that way they say will make you stronger. If Flutter was right, we wouldn't be so worried about you. You have your own role and your own strategy to play to your strengths. Don't let a loss weaken you. Grow from it. Trust your trainer."

It took a second, but they finally raised up enough to sit straight and looked me in the eyes. "_Have you ever lost a battle?"_

That made my face adorn a half-smile of grudging admittance. "More times than I can count. You could say I just lost my most major one. But, you know what? There's still others out there I can win, and I think that's something to fight for."

We went quiet for a few seconds before he broke the eye contact and nodded while looking down. "_Thank you…"_

"Think you're up for winning a battle against breakfast?"

They looked back up with a smile. "_Can I have what you were having? It smelled good."_

I matched their smile. "Of course. I'm sure they're getting nervous with you being gone. Why don't you head back to the booth and I'll pick one up for you?"

"Okay!"

When I made it back to the table, we all had our meal in much lighter spirits. After finishing, I began to once more feel the fatigue of healing, so I bid them goodnight to the tune of the pair's thanks and a hug to my leg from 'Munchie'. I made it back to my room, saw the remnant of tissue I'd tossed into the wastebin, and realized that maybe it was therapeutic to me, too. My dreams were much quieter this time.


End file.
